The smog in Harbin, provincial capital of Heilongjiang province, interrupted the operation of public buses on Monday, leaving many buses behind schedule, Harbin Daily reported.

The buses had to leave the terminals every half hour instead of every eight minutes as scheduled because of the smog, said Lu Ting, dispatcher on the No 88 bus route.

Two drivers even lost their way, Lu added.

All of the No 88 buses were at least half an hour behind schedule on Monday, according to the report.